


The Upendo Day Celebration

by yingyangmaster



Category: The Lion Guard (TV), The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Friendship, Interspecies Relationship(s), Public Display of Affection, Romance, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9613376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yingyangmaster/pseuds/yingyangmaster
Summary: A short multi-chapter story of Kion learning about the true meaning of Love during the Upendo Day, a celebrated African festival of love. Follow the young leader of The Lion Guard as he learns what it means to love someone he truly cared about with all his heart and in turn, have them loving him equally back. Enjoy! :) The story is now complete!





	1. The Beginnings of a Special Day

**Upendo Day Celebration**

**A/n: Greetings! This is actually my first time writing within The Lion King fandom, so I'm really praying that I won't disappoint readers with my first TLK fic. I have to admit, I've only watched TLK 1 and TLK 2 only once, but my main attraction is more towards the TV series, The Lion Guard. So, as you can guess, this fic will be more cannon towards The Lion Guard series rather than the movies. I'll be writing the first chapter to test waters, so if there's any errors; grammatical or informational, do let me know and I will make necessary changes and (hopefully) improve in the upcoming chapters. Here goes…**

**Chapter 1: The Beginnings of a Special Day**

Dawn arrived as the sun slowly ascended over the horizon, casting its brilliant morning light all over the African Savannah, marking the beginning of a brand new day. All around, animals from all walks of life rose from their peaceful slumber and moved about to start off their day's activities within the Savannah. These majestic lands of the Savannah were better known as the Pridelands, one of Mother Nature's finest creations where animals, insects and plants all coexist in tune of the natural flow of the Circle of Life.

The Pridelands had many places of interests, one of which happened to be Pride Rock; a huge rock formation that towered several feet above the land with the pinnacle providing a splendid view of the vast Pridelands for as far as the eye can see. It was also a home for a special pride of lions that ruled the entire Pridelands. And on this particular morning, a young member of this royal family was laying on her side, still peacefully deep in her slumber…

Kiara, a cream-coloured lioness cub and royal princess, remained completely oblivious to the arrival of a brand new day, as she lay fast asleep at her usual spot on the Rock. Gentle snores and occasional purrs escaped her mouth as she dreamt of her future self, being the future queen to rule the Pridelands. An unconscious smile formed on her lips as her dreams depicted her future self as a fully-grown adult lioness, beaming with pride as animals all around her bowed down before their Queen as she walked past them.

Meanwhile, another lion cub was just a few feet away from her, who was stealthily and craftily creeping towards the sleeping princess by the second. His name was Kion, a young lion cub with a brilliant-golden coat of fur and was the royal prince _and_ whom also happened to be Kiara's younger brother. A smug grin spread across the young prince's muzzle as he prepared to give his elder sister the wake-up call of her life.

When he finally got close enough to her, he quietly placed his mouth just inches from Kiara's left ear and shouted, "KIAAARAAAAA!"

"AHHHHH!" the startled lioness cub screamed as she sprang several feet into the air before landing back onto the ground on all fours.

She looked all around her in panic, thinking for a wild moment that the Pride was under attack. But when she saw Kion laughing heartily at her reaction, she let out an angry growl to accompany the equally frightening glare that she shot at towards her younger brother.

"KION! YOU'RE DEAD!" she cried out as she instantly leapt into the air, ready to pounce on the laughing Kion.

Unfortunately for her, Kion was much faster and managed to leap out of the way in the nick of time, just as Kiara landed at the spot where he was just milliseconds ago.

"Catch me if you can!" he playfully called out to his sister before making a break for it.

Kiara frowned and instantly chased after her younger brother. "You better pray I don't, you little… grrr!"

Kion simply laughed as he sped off with Kiara close behind him. While playfully trying to escape his sister's fury, Kion leapt across a lion and a lioness who were lying down and cuddling each other while they were in the midst of their slumber. The couple were the cubs' parents: King Simba and Queen Nala. The moment Kion leapt across his parents, the two adult lions instinctively woke up and sat up to see what's going on.

Simba and his mate turned to their left to see Kion running away from them. At the same time, the Lion King also heard movement coming towards his right. He turned his head just in time to unfortunately see Kiara just inches away from smashing into his face.

Kiara had wanted to follow Kion by leaping across her sleeping parents as well, but it was unfortunate that they were both awakened by Kion's movements and decided to sit up just as she had launched herself into the air. And now, her forward momentum prevented her from doing anything to stop herself from smashing straight into her father.

"ARGH!"

"OUCH!"

Both father and daughter painfully exclaimed when Kiara involuntarily hit her father right in his muzzle with her head. Nala, who was coincidentally shielded by her mate from being hit, gasped and rushed over towards her husband and daughter.

"Simba! Kiara!" she cried out worriedly as she approached them.

Kiara was slightly dazed by the impact but was otherwise fine. She then caught sight of Kion, who was several feet away from them and her face turned sour once again. Simba was unfazed by the impact, but he was worried about his daughter.

"Nala, sweetheart, are you okay?" he asked with a hint of panic in his tone as he lowered himself to inspect his daughter.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad," Kiara assured while still maintaining her frown as she eyed Kion in the distance. "Sorry about that."

Simba let out a long sigh of both relief and exasperation, but immediately put on a warm and hearty smile after that. The impact had somewhat caused him to remember about his own reckless self, back when he was a cub several years ago. "That's alright, Kiara. I'm glad you're not hurt."

Kion saw what had just happened and meekly headed back towards his family.

"Sorry for waking you guys up," he nervously said as both his parents gave him looks of disapproval.

Nala finally shook her head and decided to look at things in a positive light.

"Well, at least you two prevented your father and I from oversleeping," she chuckled, earning a similar hearty laugh from her mate.

Kion went over to Kiara.

"Sorry that you weren't able to catch me, sis," he playfully teased before gently nuzzling against his sister in a brotherly way.

"Ha ha…" Kiara replied in a rather annoyed tone but eventually decided to lovingly nuzzle back with her brother. Like all siblings, she and Kion rarely see eye-to-eye. But despite all their teasing and arguing, deep down they know they have nothing but sibling love for each other.

Simba and Nala smiled as they watched their two children reconcile with each other. Kiara eventually turned to her father.

"Dad, are you teaching me any new lessons today?" she asked. The 'teaching' she was referring to was Simba's daily training for her to learn the ropes of becoming the future leader and ruler of the Pridelands.

Simba smiled at her before turning to Nala and giving her a loving and adoring look.

"Actually, I thought of taking a break for today and instead do something special with all of you on this extra special day," he replied with a smile as Nala began to affectionately nuzzle against him.

"Err… what's so special about today?" Kion inquired while trying not to feel disgusted by his parents' display of affection for each other.

"Have you forgotten, Kion?" Nala softly responded to her son. "Today is the day of the Upendo Celebration."

"Oh… the Upendo… right…," Kion trailed off and looking rather unhappy about it.

The Upendo Celebration Day was a celebration of love. On this day, animals all over the Pridelands would spend the entire day with all their loved ones. One of the customary rituals that the animals practice during the Celebration was the act of publicly showing affection for one another as well as presenting gifts.

During past Upendo celebrations, Kion and Kiara spent the days with their parents, making each other gifts and generally spending their time as one loving family. Kion didn't mind these practices, but one thing he really couldn't stand about the special Celebration was the constant act of love and affection that both his parents and other adult animals displayed to each other throughout the day. And to top it off, Simba and Nala would relate to their children about their younger days; from the time they both fell in love with one another to the time they married and conceived the young cubs into this world (minus the explicitly intimate details in between).

Kiara enjoyed listening to her parents' love stories, but Kion was completely put off by them, as he didn't like all the 'mushy-mushy' things said and displayed by his parents to each other.

"So what are we going to do for the Upendo celebration?" Kiara asked jovially while facing her parents.

"Well, your mother and I have decided to bring you and Kion to visit all the romantic places we went during our honeymoon," Simba calmly replied as Nala nestled comfortably next to him.

"Yes!" Kiara exclaimed loudly before playfully leaping into the air.

Kiara was clearly overjoyed with excitement at her father's announcement but Kion just stared at his parents in horror. Their very suggestion was Kion's version of the deepest pit of Hell, where he would have to suffer for countless of hours being forced to witness his parents constantly nuzzling and kissing with each other as they toured the places where Simba and Nala spent their time during their honeymoon.

Deciding he was far from being able to survive the imminent torture, Kion began racking his brains to come up with an excuse so that he would be pardoned from having to go on such a trip.

"Err… Mom, Dad? Is it alright if I spend Upendo Day with the rest of the Lion Guard instead?" he asked with a sheepish smile and silently praying they would say yes.

Simba and Nala were surprised by their son's request, as they genuinely thought that Kion loved spending Upendo with family members. This was all thanks to Kion being able to control himself and not reveal how he was secretly disgusted and uncomfortable with the holiday. Seeing that this would be the first time Kion would spend the Upendo with the rest of the Lion Guard, both King and Queen agreed to let their son go off with his friends for a change.

"Alright, son. Go ahead," Simba replied with a smile, much to Kion's utter relief. "But, are you sure you want to miss out on such a memorable and exciting trip?"

"Err… it's okay, Dad! I'm sure Kiara can tell me all about it when you guys get back! Bye! See you! Love you all!"

And after giving a brief hug to his sister and parents, Kion shot off away from Pride Rock and headed towards the heart of the Pridelands as the rest of his family watched him slowly disappear from their sights, feeling rather confused by his abrupt departure.

* * *

After running for a couple of miles and making sure he was far enough away from Pride Rock, Kion finally slowed down in his tracks.

 _Phew! Glad I'm able to escape from that disaster,_ Kion chuckled to himself as he looked back and saw that Pride Rock was only a dot in the distance.

Now that he was alone, he decided to actually do what he had suggested to his father and start looking for his friends.

 _At least I won't have to worry about the Upendo and any mushy-mushy stuff when I'm with them,_ the cub thought to himself with relief.

He went off and headed towards the Guards' usual meeting place, which was embankment next to the Water Hole. As Kion headed towards the direction of the Water Hole, his sharp eyes suddenly caught sight of the familiar golden-yellow fur of a female spotted cheetah cub resting on the ground just ahead of him. He halted in his tracks to call out to her.

"Fuli!"

The young cheetah instantly sat up when she heard her name being called. Fuli turned around and noticed Kion in the distance. An automatic smile immediately graced her lips the moment she saw her lion friend.

"Hey, Kion! Come on, get over here!" she beamingly called out as she invited Kion to join by her side.

With a smile, Kion wasted no time to sprint towards Fuli, the feisty female cheetah cub whom he personally cherished in his heart and was someone whom he was proud to call his closest childhood friend.

**To be continued…**

**A/n: So… what do you think? I'm pretty sure you guys can guess where this fic is heading based on the last paragraph of the chapter ;) If there are any errors or characters that are OOC, please do inform me and I'll make the necessary adjustments accordingly. Hope you guys are kind enough to drop a comment or advice once you've finished reading this chapter :P Thanks again and have a great day ahead :)**

**PS: 'Upendo' means love in Swahili (at least that's what Google Translate told me). I wrote this fic synonymous to the nature of the Month I published this fic (February 2017), which is often regarded as the Month of Love.**


	2. "Just the Two of Us!"

**Chapter 2: "Just the Two of Us!"**

"Hey, Fuli!" Kion cheerfully greeted the young cheetah as he settled next to her.

Fuli smiled at Kion, clearly happy to be with the company of her closest friend. "Hey, Kion. What brings you here? I thought you usually spend Upendo Day with your family?"

"Err… well… my parents wanted to bring Kiara and I to their favorite honeymoon spots that they visited when they got married. I was actually quite uncomfortable with that idea, so I asked them if I could spend this year's Upendo Celebration with you and the rest of the Guard instead," Kion shyly admitted while maintaining a bashful smile.

Fuli grinned at her Lion friend in a teasing manner.

"You mean you can't stand seeing your parents nuzzling against each other every few minutes whenever they're together?" she asked with a laugh, as she herself had seen Kion shudder whenever his parents would nuzzle against each other in front of him.

"Yes, exactly! I mean… don't get me wrong, I love Mum and Dad, but it's just so… weird and… _mushy_ and all when they do that. And I just really can't stand all these _mushy_ kinds of stuff," Kion admitted, confirming Fuli's guess.

The Cheetah smiled at Kion's confession. "Well, you don't have to worry about any _mushy_ stuff happening when you're hanging out with me."

"Thank goodness for that!" Kion laughed out loud while happily swinging his tail about.

He then remembered about his plan to spend the rest of the day hanging out with the other members of the Guard. "Hey, you wanna go and look for Bunga, Beshte and Ono? Then we can spend the rest of the day hanging out with each other!"

"And do what?" Fuli asked in her usual doubting tone while raising a brow.

"Err… well… I'm pretty sure we'll think of something fun to do together," Kion replied, hoping that his Cheetah friend wouldn't turn down his invitation.

Fuli let out a long sigh. Being a female Cheetah, she didn't particularly liked to hang out in large groups. She'd rather spend the day alone, or at most, just hang out with only one other member of the Lion Guard. But since she didn't want Kion to feel upset or hurt his feelings, she reluctantly accepted his invitation.

"Alright, fine," she sighed while getting up, much to Kion's relief. "Let's go find the others."

They took no more than several steps ahead when they both heard a high-pitched voice screaming behind them.

"LOOK OUT BELOOOOWW!"

Kion and Fuli turned around to see a ball-like object spinning several feet in the air before rapidly descending straight towards them.

"Look out!" Kion shouted, trying to jump out of the way. But it was too late. The 'ball' landed on both felines, causing them to fall on top of each other with a grunt.

As the dust settled, it turns out that the 'ball' was actually Bunga curled up into one, and he was now giggling gleefully as he lay on Kion's head, who was unfortunately laying inappropriately on Fuli's rear end.

"That was FUN!" Bunga chuckled, seemingly oblivious to the mishap that he brought onto the felines.

Kion frowned in disapproval as he looked up to see his Honeybadger friend laughing away while still laying on his mane. "Not cool, Bunga. Not cool."

Bunga looked down in surprise. "Oh hey, Kion! Say, what are you doing lying on top of Fuli's err… butt?"

"What?!" Kion exclaimed in shock. He looked down to finally realize that he was indeed lying so explicitly close to Fuli's behind, and she was now giving him an uncomfortable look of disapproval.

Kion blushed a deep shade of red as he sheepishly climbed off from his friend and feeling rather guilty about accidentally touching her inappropriately. "Oh… err… I'm… I'm really sorry about that, Fuli," he stuttered, all the while trying not to make it obvious that he was blushing.

Fuli let out a sigh but immediately put on a cheerful smile after that. "That's alright, Kion. You didn't mean to anyways," she assured, much to Kion's relief.

Bunga hopped off Kion's mane and casually approached Fuli. "Hi, Fuli! Fancy seeing you here, too!"

The Cheetah groaned, clearly not too pleased to come across the Honeybadger. "Bunga…"

Just then, they all heard the sound of two other animals making their way towards them. A large hippopotamus with an egret perched on his back soon arrived to greet the little posse of young animals.

"Hey guys! Glad to see you all here," Beshte the Hippo cheerfully greeted them.

Ono the Egret noticed Kion and Fuli's fur were all ruffled up and guessed it had something to do with Bunga. "Did Bunga land on you two just now?" he asked with a subtle smile on his beak.

"You think?" Fuli replied in an annoyed tone while licking the fur on her paw to smooth it down again.

Kion laughed, glad that his entire group of friends were with him. "Happy Upendo Day, you guys!" he wished them all with a cheery tone.

"And Happy Upendo Day to you too, Kion!" Bunga replied, embracing his best friend tightly, to which Kion hugged him back with a grin.

"Hey, Kion. Aren't you supposed to spend Upendo Day with your family?" Ono innocently inquired.

The Lion cub rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed to be asked the same question for the second time that day.

"Err… well, let's just say that my parents kinda allowed me to spend this year's Upendo celebration with you guys instead for a change."

Hearing this, Beshte suddenly got an idea of an activity that they all can participate for the rest of the day. "Hey! Since we're all together, why don't we all go to my home at Big Springs? My entire family is organizing an Upendo Day water party, and everyone's invited!"

The idea of a water party at Big Springs had certainly sounded appealing to them.

"Sure!"

"That's a Bunga-tastic idea!"

"It does sound like a lot of fun."

Beshte had anticipated that his friends would agree to his suggestion. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"

And with that, the group started moving ahead in the direction of the Big Springs with Beshte leading the way.

"I hope the bad guys are kind enough not to cause any trouble for us that'll disrupt our holiday," Ono commented, referring to the various enemies that the Lion Guard had to dealt with in the past.

Kion eagerly followed behind the group when he suddenly realized that one particular member of the Lion Guard was left behind. He halted in his tracks and turned around to see Fuli, still sitting at the same spot and staring at the ground. Wondering why she wasn't following the rest of the group, Kion headed back and slowly approached the Cheetah.

"Fuli, what's wrong?" he asked her softly, as she looked up at him while trying to maintain her stoic expression.

"Nothing. I just… don't feel like going to Big Springs and getting all wet," Fuli merely replied and stared back at the ground to avoid meeting his gaze.

Kion raised a brow. It was true that Fuli, being a cheetah, would naturally avoid getting wet. But there was something in her voice that caused him to doubt her excuse for not coming along to Big Springs.

"Are you sure? You can always hang around near the Springs' embankment to keep dry, and I can even accompany you if you want," Kion suggested, hoping that his sincere offer would help change her mind.

Fuli let out a sigh and looked back at her friend in his eyes. "No, Kion, please. I don't want you to miss out on the fun because of me. Please, just go ahead and enjoy the party. I'd… I'd rather enjoy being alone instead."

"Well, I'm not gonna enjoy the party without you, Fuli. And I certainly don't want you to spend the rest of Upendo Day all by yourself," Kion said softly, trying to coax her into joining him and the others. "So, come on."

For a moment, Fuli just stared at Kion, as if considering his offer. But to his dismay, the Cheetah sadly dropped her gaze to the ground once again and let out a sigh. "I'm really sorry, Kion. I just… need some time alone."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ono was flying ahead in the air towards Big Springs with Bunga and Beshte running below him. They were only a few yards away from the Springs when the sharp-eyed Egret suddenly realized that both Kion and Fuli were not with the group.

"Hey, you guys! Where's Fuli and Kion?" he called out to Beshte and Bunga from above.

Unfortunately, the Honeybadger and Hippo were too engrossed in racing each other to even hear the Egret calling out to them.

"Last one to the Springs is a rotten caterpillar!" Bunga cried out, completely unaware that Ono had been calling out to him and Beshte.

The Egret let out an exasperated sigh and decided to turn back and make sure his comrades were okay. He flew for a good five minutes in the air, retracing back his steps when he eventually spotted both felines at the same spot where he, Beshte and Bunga had found them earlier. Not wasting a second, he instantly swooped down and landed right next to them.

"Hey, is everything alright?" he inquired with a hint of concern in his tone. "Aren't you both coming to Beshte's water party?"

"I'm sorry Ono, but I'm afraid I won't be coming," Fuli replied in a saddened tone as she slowly started walking in the opposite direction, away from Kion and Ono. "Please inform the others that I'm not coming to their party."

Ono was completely taken aback by Fuli's sudden withdrawal, but what Kion said next surprised him even more.

"Ono, please tell the others that I won't be going for the party as well," the leader of the Lion Guard instructed, causing Fuli to stop in her tracks and turned back around.

"Wait, what? Kion, why aren't you going to the party?" the Cheetah asked, completely bewildered by Kion's instruction to Ono.

Kion laughed and casually replied back to her with a smile, "Well, I've decided to spend the rest of Upendo Day with you, Fuli. Just the two of us! After all, I did say that I'm not gonna let you be all alone on such a special day like today."

Fuli was left speechless when Kion said this, while Ono couldn't help but smile at Kion's sincere generosity to spend time with the disheartened Fuli; whatever it was that made her upset in the first place.

"Sure, Kion. I'll be sure to tell the others that you two can't make it for the party," the Egret assured to him before flapping his wings and gaining altitude to hover several feet in the air.

"Thanks, Ono! And enjoy yourself at the party!" Kion shouted to the airborne Egret above him.

"No problem, Kion! Have fun, you two!"

And with that, Ono flew off towards the Big Springs once again.

Once Ono was out of sight, Fuli confronted Kion and asked him a sincere question. "Why did you just sacrificed your time to spend the day with me when you could have joined the others at the water party? And I just told you that I need some time alone."

Kion simply let out a small chuckle and smiled at her.

"Because you're my friend, Fuli. And friends will never let each other feel all alone and lonely, especially on a special day like Upendo Day," he beamingly replied back to her.

His short answer had touched Fuli so much that she finally gave in and couldn't stop herself from smiling and feeling grateful for having a true friend like him.

"Thanks, Kion. I really appreciate you insisting on spending time with me together," she said while maintaining the beautiful smile that graced her lips and causing Kion to slightly blush under the fur of his cheeks. "So, what do you wanna do first?"

Kion pinched his lips to the side and looked around to think of an activity that he and Fuli can both enjoy. He then caught sight of a familiar hill in the distance behind them and immediately got an idea.

"Hey, you see that hill over there? Let's race each other there, and whoever wins gets to choose what to do next," he suggested while nudging his head towards the direction of the hill.

"Race all the way to Maua Hill? Sure!" Fuli eagerly replied, who seemed to recognize the hill as well. "But err… you do know that you're racing against me right?"

Kion simply smiled smugly back in response to Fuli's taunting. "Yeah, I know. You may have won against me countless of times before, but who knows? I might get lucky this time."

"Well we'll see just how lucky you are today," Fuli laughed as she and Kion lowered themselves into the ground and prepared themselves for their race.

"Ready…

Set…

GO!"

And with that, both felines dashed off, leaving a trail of dust behind them as they raced each other towards one of the Pridelands' most romantic hotspot; the Maua Hill.

**To be continued…**

**A/n: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please do leave a comment and I hope that any of you guys could be so kind enough as to advise me on how I can better improve my writing for the upcoming chapters ahead. Thanks to everyone who had read my story so far! Have a great day ahead! :D**

PS: 'Maua' is Swahili for 'flowers'


	3. Fun at the Hill

**Chapter 3: Fun at the Hill**

"Try to keep up, Kion!" Fuli laughed as the Cheetah steadily overtook Kion in their race to Maua Hill.

"Oh, I'll keep up alright!" Kion replied with a smirk as he put in more energy to run faster and was eventually neck-and-neck with Fuli.

The pair raced across the Mbali fields, stirring up a blinding dust trail behind as they ran along the dirt ground of the Fields and prompting several herds of grazing zebras to move out of their way.

After several minutes of running, both felines could see the peak of Mauna Hill looming overhead, towering over the nearby Pana Plains. Seeing that the way ahead to Mauna Hill was just a straight path, Fuli decided it was now time to leave Kion in the dust and beat him in the race.

"See you later, Kion! Huwezi!" she playfully called out before zooming ahead at inhuman speeds and leaving the Lion cub surrounded by a huge cloud of dust and temporarily blinding him.

"Hey, not fair!" Kion coughed out while navigating blindly through the dust.

Eventually the dust around him settled and he could see Fuli slowly becoming a tiny dot in the distance ahead of him.

 _Gah, hate it when she does that!_ Kion grumbled to himself with a frown as Fuli had now completely disappeared from his sight.

Still trying to keep up with the race, the Lion Cub began looking around him to look for another way to beat his Cheetah friend. He eventually noticed a separate dirt path that splintered away from the main track which Fuli had taken and instantly recognized it as a shortcut that bypassed the Pana Plains and would directly lead him towards Maua Hill.

With a smirk, Kion immediately ran down the second path and regained his confidece that he'll beat Fuli to the Hill using his little detour.

Meanwhile, Fuli had crossed the Mbali fields and was now dashing across the Pana Plains towards Maua Hill. Still running at her break-neck speed, she could slowly make out the vast range of flowers that covered the Hill and the surrounding meadow just up ahead as she finally made it through the Plains.

Fuli looked behind her shoulder to see if Kion was able to keep up with her, but all that she could see was her own dust trail behind and not a single soul in sight, as she had expected. Fuli chuckled and turned her head to face forward. She saw that Mauna Hill was only a few yards away from her and she estimated that she would reach the summit in a just a matter of seconds. But when she finally reached the flowery meadow near the foot of the Hill, Kion suddenly appeared ahead in her line of vision, coming from the left and was about to cross her own path.

"Kion?!" Fuli exclaimed in panic and immediately tried to stop in her tracks. Unfortunately for her, she had been moving far too fast and the momentum kept her moving in a forward motion.

Kion, on the other hand, heard Fuli crying out his name in panic and gasped when he saw that he was only moments away from crashing into his friend. In a last-minute effort, he tried to stop himself from moving forwards but it was too late. With a loud "OOF!", both felines collided into one another, with Fuli's forward momentum causing them to tumble forwards across the meadow.

"Ugh!"

"Ouch!"

"Oof!"

"Hey!"

"Ah!"

Kion and Fuli clinged onto each other as they involuntarily tumbled across the meadow and flattening the flowers there in the process. They eventually lost momentum and managed to land right at the foot of Maua Hill.

Kion coughed and groaned as he slowly recovered from the impact of the collision.

"Fuli… Fuli, you alright?" he weakly asked as he looked around for his friend. He suddenly felt something incredibly soft and plushy beneath him and looked down to investigate. He gasped in horror when he saw Fuli laying on her back against the ground below him while _he_ was laying on top of her on her chest.

"Hevi Kabisa! Fuli, are you okay?!" he cried, as he instantly got off from Fuli and helped her to stand on her fours. He was more worried about her well-being rather than the awkward position he was in with the female Cheetah.

Fuli looked injured at first but immediately flashed an assuring smile once Kion had helped her to stand again.

"Don't worry, Kion, I'm fine," she replied with a sporting and cheerful laugh that accompanied her beautiful smile. "Though I couldn't help but notice that you seem prone to end up lying on top of me today."

Kion's cheeks blushed heavily for the second time that day when Fuli said this. "Heh, I'm… I'm really sorry about that, Fuli. I… I'll make sure to be careful not to land on you next time."

"Hahaha, that's okay, Kion! It was an accident anyways," Fuli replied with a grin before giving Kion an assuring lick on his muzzle.

This caused Kion to meekly blush a deeper shade of red than it was before. "Heh, thanks, Fuli. Come on, let's go to the Hill's summit and enjoy the view there."

Fuli followed behind as Kion led the way up Maua Hill. It was a rather steep climb but the felines managed to scale the Hill with hardly any effort at all. The moment they reached the Hill's peak, both their jaws dropped as they finally had the opportunity to savour the breath-taking view from up there for the very first time. From where they stood at the peak, they could see almost the entire African Savannah below them and the Circle of Life in motion.

From the zebras grazing at the Mbali Fields in the west to the alligators fishing at Lake Matope in the east. They could even see Pride Rock in the distance to their north-east as well.

"Wow, what a view!" Fuli exclaimed as she looked all around to bask in the spectacular view of the surroundings. "Racing all the way up here is definitely the best idea you've ever had, Kion."

"Gee, thanks Fuli! That really means a lot to me," Kion smiled a wide grin at her compliment.

Both felines settled down and spent the next few minutes to appreciate Nature's beauty around them while enjoying each other's company at the same time. Kion let out a peaceful sigh as he settled himself on the flowery summit. Since becoming the leader of the Lion Guard, he rarely had moments where he can just relax together with Fuli without any emergency arising to disturb them. These rare moments were a luxury, and now, he wanted to cherish every single second he's spending with her as they quietly observed the view from the peak of Maua Hill.

"Hey, Kion?" Fuli eventually asked and breaking the silence between them. "Since we both ironically arrived at the Hill at the same time, who's determining what we're gonna do next?"

For a moment, Kion was lost about what Fuli was talking about, but suddenly remembered that he had earlier mentioned that whoever wins the race to Maua Hill will determine the next activity that both felines can participate in.

"Well, since I came up with the race, why don't you decide what we should do next?" Kion replied.

Fuli grinned and began looking about and racking her mind to come up with something she and Kion could have fun doing together. Her attention then shifted to the steep descent of the Hill in front of them that was covered with the various flowers and she instantly came up with a very interesting idea.

"Alright, I got one. But err… you have to sit at this spot over here," Fuli said in a playful tone as she patted at a spot at the very edge of the hill's summit.

"Um… okay," Kion optimistically obliged and walked over to the spot as indicated by the Cheetah. "So… what is it that we're gonna do?"

Fuli smirked as she slyly walked behind with Kion's back facing her. "THIS!"

"WHOAH!"

In one swift movement, Fuli pounced on the unsuspecting Kion from behind and clinged tightly onto him as her intended actions caused both of them to fall forwards and tumble down for the second time that day. This time, however, both felines were laughing and giggling as Lion and Cheetah clinged onto each other and rolled down the Hill's descent, sending various wildflowers flying into the air as they did so.

After tumbling several hundred meters down, they finally stopped at the foot of the other side of the Hill. Fuli couldn't stop giggling as she found herself once again laying on her back while Kion was on top of her, smiling and blushing heavily at the same time as his muzzle was only an inch apart from Fuli's.

For a considerable amount of time, the two close friends smiled and giggled as they stared into each other's eyes and not caring about the awkward position they were in at the moment. Fuli found herself breathing heavily as she saw Kion's auburn cat eyes narrowed onto her from above. That was when she realized that her paw was resting on Kion's left shoulder. She had made body contact with her Lion friend countless of times, but this time however, she found that she couldn't stop herself from slowly caressing Kion's shoulder and savouring the feel of the subtle muscles beneath his orange fur.

Kion felt Fuli's paw gently stroking against his skin and this caused his heart to pound against his chest. He soon found himself subconsciously lowering his head so that his nose eventually touched hers.

 _Hevi Kebisa, what in the Pridelands am I doing?!_ Kion questioned himself as Fuli smiled at him with half-lidded eyes and slowly began rubbing her nose against his own.

Kion smiled back as they rubbed noses for a few seconds before Fuli gave him small, friendly lick on his muzzle for the second time that day. He then felt Fuli squirm slightly beneath him and took it that she wanted him to get off of her without spoiling the mood. He let out a small chuckle and allowed her to stand on her fours again.

"Wow… that was um… different," Kion shyly commented as Fuli flashed him a beautiful smile before giving him a quick nuzzle against his shoulder.

"Well, at least we're having fun," she chuckled as she settled down onto the soft patch of flowers to take a rest.

"Heh, I've never thought that rolling down a steep hill could be so much fun," Kion added with a grin before comfortably settling down next to Fuli.

"You better believe it, Kion! The last time I rolled down a hill that steep was… was…"

Kion turned to faced Fuli when he realized that her smile had suddenly disappeared and her face was crestfallen. "Fuli? Fuli, what's wrong?"

Fuli simply stared into blank space with drooping ears and completely ignored Kion as if she was in a trance-like state. She eventually snapped out of it when she felt Kion placing a paw on her shoulder out of concern.

"Fuli. Are you okay?"

Tears had now started to fill up her eyes as Fuli looked down to avoid meeting Kion's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Kion," she tearfully said to him in a shaky voice before picking herself up and running away as fast as she could away from Kion and away from Maua Hill.

"Fuli, wait! FULI!" Kion called out to her only to see that his effort in trying to stop her was in vain.

Without thinking twice, Kion took off and tried his best to follow Fuli, but she had already sped off in the distance, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

_Fuli. Don't go._

**To be continued…**

**A/n: Hi there! I have to admit, I'm not really good at describing romantic scenes :P So if you find that this chapter is a bit 'off' or if the storyline feels a bit too rushed or if any of the characters is OOC, please do inform me so that I can make the necessary changes. Have a great day ahead, everyone! :)**

**PS: I forgot to mention that the scene where Kion abnd Fuli were rolling down the hill was (obviously) inspired by the "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" scene in TLK. Listening to the song while reading that scene made me cry for a good 5 minutes :') Childhood memories...**

 


	4. Fuli's Past

**Chapter 4: Fuli's Past**

"Fuli! Hold up!" Kion shouted after Fuli as the Cheetah slowly disappeared ahead of him from his sight.

After running for several hundred yards, Kion finally drained up all his energy to run after Fuli and was forced to rest on the ground and catch his breath.

 _Ugh. Why can't Fuli be born as a tortoise instead of a Cheetah?_ Kion rhetorically grumbled to himself as he panted heavily out of exhaustion.

Eventually deciding that he had rested long enough, Kion got off from the ground and walked ahead. He took a deep breath and instantly caught a whiff of a sweet-smelling scent that was lurking around in the air. He smiled as he instantly recognised it as Fuli's scent and decided it was time to use his tracking skills to locate his Cheetah friend.

Kion kept his nose close to the ground as he followed the trail of Fuli's scent. He knew that he had to move quickly or the scent will dissipate in the air andmake it harder for him to track Fuli down. The scent trail led him towards the outskirts of the Pridelands, where the wide, dusty land was dry and bare, with the exception of several withering trees scattered around the godforsaken land. The whole area reminded Kion of the Outlands, and he was now starting to question himself whether he was still within Pridelands territory or not.

This was a part of the Pridelands that he had certainly never been before, and he was sure the same could be said for the other members of the Lion Guard. He now wondered why Fuli had ran off towards an unfamiliar territory. Seeing how the area closely resembled the Outlands, Kion's instincts were on full alert for any possibility of an attack while he navigated around the dusty tracks.

After several minutes of tracking in the foreign territory, Kion realized that Fuli's scent had gotten stronger, indicating that she was not far away from him. He looked up to scan the area and could almost instantly make out a slender, yellow figure resting on a slab of rock several hundred meters ahead of him. Kion let out a sigh of relief when he saw Fuli resting on the rock and immediately picked up his pace as he approached her from behind.

"Fuli?"

Fuli gasped and turned her head when she heard Kion softly called her as he sat himself on the rock next to her.

"Hi Kion…" Fuli replied half-heartedly and tried to look away from her friend.

Kion instantly noticed the fur around Fuli's eyes were damp and realised that she had been crying. "Fuli? Are you okay? Why'd you run off all the way out here?"

The young Cheetah wiped away a tear before patting on a particular spot on the rock near Kion's paw. That was when Kion noticed a distinctive claw mark was embedded on the particular spot that Fuli pointed out.

"This flat piece of rock was where my Mom gave birth to me," Fuli answered him in a shaky voice.

Kion's jaw instantly dropped when she said this. "Wait. This was where you were born?" he asked in surprise.

Fuli slowly nodded and managed to lift a tiny smile. "This area was where I lived when my parents were around. Some of the best memories I've had were made here."

She then pointed over to a small, bare hill a few meters away from where they sat.

"See that hill over there? It used to be covered with all sorts of wildflowers. When I was a few months old, my dad would bring me up the hill and then we would tumble down the hill all day and just have a really great time together," she reminisced with a small laugh that even Kion couldn't help but smile along.

"I guess rolling down Maua Hill kinda brought up those memories again, huh?" he chuckled while giving Fuli a friendly nudge.

"Haha. Yeah, I guess it did," Fuli replied with a smile as she relived her fond memories with her parents.

A pregnant silence broke out between the pair, until Kion eventually gathered enough courage to finally ask Fuli a rather sensitive question that he had been meaning to ask since she first mentioned about her parents. "Fuli. I'm so sorry to ask this, but… where's your mum and dad?"

Fuli's face fell once again and she could feel tears slowly fill her eyes when Kion asked her the thorny question. Despite being in an emotional state, Fuli decided it would be better to share with Kion about her past.

"One night, when I was only two years old, my parents brought me to an embankment near the Big Springs. They told me to hide inside a bush and not to come out until they came back for me. I waited there the entire night, just waiting and hiding… but they never came back. That was the last time I saw them."

 _Hevi Kebisa. No wonder she didn't want to go to the Big Springs with us,_ Kion thought to himself, now wishing more than ever that he hadn't asked her such a sensitive question.

"I'm… I'm really sorry, Fuli. I didn't know…"

He tried to put a comforting paw on her shoulder but Fuli tearfully shoved it away. "I'm sorry, Kion. I think I need I some time alone," she quietly apologized while avoiding from making eye contact with him.

"Are… are you sure?" Kion asked, slightly hurt by Fuli's rejection.

Fuli replied by slowly nodding her head while still avoiding meeting Kion's gaze and without uttering a single word.

"Okay. Um… goodbye, Fuli…" he quietly said to her but was only met with a deafening silence.

Kion sighed as he sadly walked away from Fuli and headed back towards the Big Springs. He felt rather guilty for leaving Fuli in such an emotional state, and just after he was having fun with her at Maua Hill too. He suddenly felt that this year's Upendo Day celebration was the most depressing one he's ever had before.

After walking for a good half-hour, he finally arrived at the clearing that would eventually lead to Big Springs. Just as Beshte had mentioned earlier, the lake at the Springs was packed with all sorts of land animals who came for the water party and were now dipping and swimming around in the lake. He could even see Beshte and Bunga happily swimming around and he could tell they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. He then caught sight of Ono happily bathing himself in a small puddle of water next to the lake and decided to consult the intelligent Egret for some advice.

* * *

Ono was happily wriggling around in his little puddle while humming a happy tune when a huge wave of water suddenly splashed on top of him, catching him by surprise.

"Hapana!" he spluttered while violently shaking his entire body to dry himself.

"Whoops! Sorry about that, Ono!" Bunga called out apologetically to the Egret before continuing to swim around in the lake as if he had done nothing wrong.

 _Sure you are,_ Ono thought to himself in annoyance before moving away to find another puddle to bathe in that was well away from Bunga. He took only a few steps ahead when he suddenly heard a nearby bush rustled behind him. He quickly turned around to see Kion's face peeking through the bush while the rest of his body remained hidden within it.

"Kion?" Ono exclaimed in surprise as he approached the Lion. "Kion, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending some time with Fuli?"

Kion's face was crestfallen when Ono mentioned Fuli's name. "Yeah, about that. Ono, I need your help. It's about Fuli."

"Fuli? Where is she, is she alright? Should I get Beshte and Bunga to help as well?" Ono frantically asked when he realized that Kion wasn't with Fuli.

"Fuli's fine… well, more or less. And no, don't call Beshte and Bunga. That's why I'm hiding, I don't want to want to interrupt and involve them in this. But I sure could use your help, Ono."

The Egret was more than happy that Bunga wasn't coming along, but he was still concerned about his Cheetah friend's well-being. "Sure, Kion. But err… what did you mean by 'more or less'?"

"Um… why don't we take a walk? I'll explain everything to you along the way."

"Alright, then," Ono replied as he perched himself on Kion's back before the Lion cub quietly walked downed a path away from the Big Springs.

For the next few minutes, Kion explained everything that had happened between Fuli and himself to the Egret; from the fun they had at Maua Hill to Fuli's revelation of her parents' existence at her past habitat. Ono listened intently to every detail and was pretty much amused by what Kion had to tell him, especially the part where Fuli revealed to Kion about her past.

"So her parents just abandoned her at the Big Springs to care for herself?" Ono asked, suddenly feeling sorry for Fuli. "Why'd they do that?"

"Wish I knew, Ono," Kion sighed as he walked ahead. "And I think Fuli would want to know as well. I can't imagine the hardship that she had to go through after her parents left. I guess that's why she didn't want to come with us to the Big Springs earlier."

"I suppose that also explains why Fuli tends to be err… by herself," Ono commented, being careful with his choice of words. "People with a difficult and loveless past usually prefer to be on their own. But at least you were nice enough to show her some affection when you two were at Maua Hill, Kion."

"Err… yeah. Actually, Ono, that's also another thing I'd like to discuss about," Kion said while trying not to sound bashful. "I've been great friends with Fuli for a long time, but… I suddenly felt… different when we tumbled down that hill. And… well… the way my heart was pounding when she looked at me in the eyes _while_ I was on top of her… Ono, what's going on?!"

Ono smiled and was secretly amused by Kion's rare display of insecurity. "Well, Kion. Err… I guess there comes a time when you're growing up and eventually… you fall in love with a girl and…"

"Okay. Now you sound exactly like my dad whenever he gives me 'the talk'," Kion interrupted him while shuddering slightly. "But I can't possibly be falling in love with Fuli, right? I mean… she's my best friend, I can't be falling in love with my best friend! Wouldn't that be considered... weird?"

"Well err… if you remember, Kion, your parents _were_ best friends when they were both cubs. But that didn't stop them from eventually falling in love and marrying each other."

"So… are you saying that I'll end up marrying Fuli someday?"

"Well… you might," Ono replied with a small chuckle while secretly agreeing that such a suggestion was indeed possible. "Love will always find a way, eventually. Though it might be a bit difficult for you two, considering that you're a Lion and she's a Cheetah…"

"Haha slow down, Ono. I think we're going a bit too far there," Kion laughed good-heartedly and interrupting the Egret.

"Right. Sorry, Kion," the Egret apologized.

"That's okay," Kion assured him with a chuckle. "Though I sure wish there was some way I could help make Fuli feel better."

"Well, why not make her a gift? After all, giving gifts to loved ones is one of the customs during the Upendo Celebration, you know."

"Ono, that's a great idea!" Kion exclaimed, glad that he chose to consult with the Egret. "What do you think I should give her as a present?"

"Well, what about a gift of food? You could hunt a gazelle and surprise her with it."

"Err… actually, I'm not really comfortable with the idea of ending a gazelle's life and turning it into a present, especially not on a day like Upendi Day."

"Well, what about an impala then?"

The egret's suggestion was met with Kion slowly shaking his head in objection.

"Ok, well... what about fish?"

Kion paused in his tracks to consider Ono's new proposal. "Hmm, I have seen Fuli eat fish before, but I don't really know what kind of fish she likes."

"Well, tuna is usually considered the tastiest fish in the Serengeti. And I know for a fact that there's plenty of tuna fish swimming in the Maji Safi River not far from here!"

"Alright then, Ono. Show me the way," Kion finally said in agreement, much to Ono's delight.

"With pleasure, Kion!" Ono eagerly said as he launched himself from Kion's back and into the air.

And with that, the two members of the Lion Guard rushed off towards the Maji Safi River in a quest to fish for the tastiest tuna they could find and present it to their heartbroken Cheetah friend.

**To be continued…**

**A/n: Hope this chapter went well. I'm actually using this chapter as a future reference for a new story I'm coming up with that mainly centres on Fuli and her past. Have a great day ahead, everyone! :)**


	5. The Stranger in the Forest

**Chapter 5: The Stranger in the Forest**

"Hey, Ono! How much further to the Maji Safi River?" Kion called out to the Egret, who was flying above and leading the way.

"Not far, Kion! The Maji Safi is located in the middle of that forest up ahead!" Ono replied as several huge trees eventually loomed into their sights not too far from them.

The pair eventually arrived at the forest and began trekking through the massive foliage around them. Ono, being a bird, was able to fly amongst the trees and tree branches overhead with ease but he had to slow down for Kion, who struggled to get around the thick bushes and underbrush on the ground. After navigating around the trees, they finally reached the heart of the forest where a small clear-water river flowed through.

"Here we are, the Maji Safi River! Where over twenty different species of fish swim here everyday, including tuna fish," Ono announced as he hovered over the flowing water.

Feeling rather tired and thirsty from trekking through the forest, Kion leaned forward and took several gulps of the river water. "Hevi Kebisa! The water here is ice-cold!" he exclaimed the moment his lips came in contact with the water.

"Yup, the Maji Safi river actually originates from the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro over there, so the water that flows in the river here is expected to be cold," the Egret explain while nudging his head towards Mount Kilimanjaro that can been seen towering above the forest through the thick foliage.

Kion let out a heavy sigh after hearing this. "Oh… I have a feeling that I'm not gonna enjoy fishing for tuna in this ice-cold river. Well… this one's for you, Fuli," he said as he walked ahead and prepared himself to dive into the river.

_CRACK!_

Both Kion and Ono gasped and turned around when they heard the sound of something moving about in the bushes right behind them.

" _What was that_?" Ono whispered in panic as he perched himself on Kion's mane.

Before Kion could answer, the bush rustled once again and both Lion and Egret could make out a spotted animal hiding within the leaves and branches of the underbrush.

" _Look, there's someone hiding inside that bush_ ," Kion whispered back as they saw the animal had now remained completely still.

Slowly, the Lion cub cautiously approached the bush and stopped a few feet away from it.

"Whoever's hiding in that bush, come out and show yourself!" Kion fiercely ordered as he unsheathed his claws and gritted his teeth.

Both Ono and Kion prepared themselves for a possible attack, as the bush rustled heavily and they could hear a low growl coming from within. Suddenly, the hidden animal shot itself out from the bush and landed right in front of Ono and Kion. The two members of the Lion Guard gasped and their widened when they finally had a good look at the intruder. He was an animal they both had never seen before; he had the body of a medium-sized domestic cat with a pair of noticeably large ears, and his golden-yellow fur were covered with several black spots that resembled those of a Cheetah's.

Kion was stunned when he saw the strange animal who was slightly bigger than him, but he managed to maintain his composure as he faced the intruder. "Who are you? State your name and intentions, now!" he ordered with a growl.

The strange animal snarled fiercely at first but immediately backed down when he realised that he was only being confronted by a Lion cub and a small Egret.

"The name's Mwongo, kid, and I'm just out here minding my own business," the animal casually replied in a deep and gruff voice before extending a paw to Kion. "Don't be shy! Put it in there!"

Kion was taken aback by the animal's display of friendliness but he still remained cautious as he extended his own paw and shook paws with the intruder. "Err… hi there, Mwongo."

"Hmm, not much of a talker are you, sonny boy?" Mwongo commented as he observed the two animals in front of him intently.

"I'm sorry, it's just that... we've never seen an animal like you before, Mwongo. Are you a species of a Cheetah or something?" Kion politely asked while secretly begrudging Mwongo for calling him 'sonny boy'.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to. And no, I'm not a Cheetah at all, eventhough I have fur like theirs. I'm actually a Serval cat, and us Servals don't really hang around in this part of Africa," Mwongo explained with a toothy grin that caused Ono to feel slightly uneasy.

"So... what are you doing all the way in the Pridelands, then?" Ono asked while raising a brow, as he was still suspicious of the Serval.

Mwongo chuckled at Ono's question. "Well, I like to travel. I have travelled throughout almost the whole of Africa, except for this place that you call the Pridelands… and a few other places as well."

"Huh. So you travel alone?" Kion asked and was secretly impressed by the Serval's alleged achievement.

"Yup. Servals are solitary animals, so we prefer to be alone," Mwongo calmly replied. "Anyways, enough about me. What about yourselves? You still haven't told me your names, you know."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot we haven't properly introduced ourselves," Kion admitted with a laugh. "My name's Kion and this is my friend, Ono. We're two of the five members of the Lion Guard."

Mwango's eyes widened when Kion mentioned about the Guard. "Wait, that Egret is a member of the Lion Guard? Last I heard, the Lion Guard was supposed to be an all-Lions group."

"Well you must be outdated, then," Ono quietly mumbled to himself while aiming a disapproving frown at the Serval.

"Anyways, where was I?" Mwongo continued in an effort to ignore Ono's hostility towards him. "Ah, yes! I couldn't help but overhear that you were about to fish some tuna for someone named Fuli, Lion Cub. Is Fuli a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, she's um... my close friend," Kion replied in a bashful tone as he could feel his cheeks steadily turning scarlet at the Serval's mention of Fuli.

"Ah, so your friend's a 'she'," Mwongo said with a smirk that was slowly forming on his lips. "You're actually willing to fish in that ice-cold river just for that female friend of yours?"

"Err... sure, I guess. I'm planning to make it as a gift for her," Kion slowly replied as he could tell where this conversation was headed.

"Hmm, seems to me that you actually see your friend, Fuli as more than just a 'close friend', Kion," Mwongo said while winking at Kion, causing the Lion cub to blush heavily on his cheek.

"Well… I… we're actually… err…" Kion stuttered but was cut off by Mwango seconds later.

"Relax, kid. There's nothing to be shy about," the Serval laughed while giving Kion a persuasive nudge. "All males will eventually fall in love with a girl at some point of their lives, even if the girl's a close friend! Trust me, it's completely natural! And that's exactly why I want to help you make that perfect gift of yours."

Kion was surprised once again when Mwango said his last sentence. "Wait. You want to help me?"

"Of course! You see, Kion, I was once like you; young, strong and handsome. When I was a cub, I had this childhood friend of mine, Bahati whom I was very close with. Long story short, I fell in love her as I was growing up and had always wanted to tell her how I was in love with her… but I never had the courage to do so. Then one fine day, I decided to make her a gift of flowers and finally confess my true feelings I had for her. But when I got to her lair, I found out she had already gone to travel the entire African continent by herself. And that… that was the last time I saw Bahati… the love of my life…"

Kion and Ono exchanged awkward glances as Mwango suddenly broke down into tears from reliving his past memories.

"Gee… that was um… a really touching story, Mwango," Kion eventually said, feeling a little confused by the Serval's sudden breakdown. "But I don't understand, why are you telling me all this?"

Mwango instantly stopped crying the moment Kion said this.

"The point is, kid… if you're really in love with your best friend, then just tell her! Tell her your true feelings about her before it's too late. I was heartbroken when I failed to tell Bahati how much I loved her, but I don't want the same thing to happen to you. And that's why I'm willing to help you make your gift for your friend," he finished off his sentence by flashing the same toothy grin that caused Ono to frown with suspicion.

"Well… I guess that's really nice of you, Mwango. But I…" Kion began only to be cut off again by the Serval.

"Don't mention it, Kion! Now let's focus on making that gift of yours!"

"Um… alright," Kion said, finally submitting to Mwango's insistence to help him. "So, what do you have in mind?"

Mwango smirked, glad that the Lion Cub accepted his offer of assistance. "Great! Now first up, go ahead into the river and fish out 50 pieces of tuna and put them in a pile on that patch of grass there on the embankment. Next…"

"Wait, hold on. 50 pieces of tuna? Fuli won't be able to eat that much by herself!" Ono exclaimed in surprise and interrupting Mwango.

The Serval rolled his eyes and let of a sigh of annoyance at being interrupted. "Here's a hint, Egret. She won't be eating the fish alone."

Mwongo smirked when Ono frowned and let out an exasperated groan. The Serval then turned to face Kion, who was looking at him with a suspicious look. "Anyways, Kion. You just get those 50 pieces of tuna, while I go over behind those trees there and prepare something interesting that I know you and Fuli are gonna love."

Kion was about to say something but the Serval turned around and disappeared behind a cluster of trees and away from the two members of the Lion Guard.

"Well, I guess I better go into the river and start fishing for those tuna," Kion finally said and turned towards the river.

"Kion, are you sure you can trust that Serval?" Ono asked as he hovered in front of Kion to stop him from going to the river's edge.

"Well… Mwongo does seem a bit strange. But I'm sure he means well and genuinely wants to help me out," Kion replied and continued to walk towards the water.

"Well... I hope you're right," Ono said half-heartedly as he followed Kion from behind.

Kion stopped when he finally reached the river's edge. "Alright, Ono. I'll go into the middle of the river while you fly above and spot for any tuna fish that comes my way."

"Got it, Kion!" the Egret obliged as he took into the air above the river while Kion jumped into the shallow river and swam towards its middle.

**To be continued…**


	6. Sunset over the Pridelands

**Chapter 6: Sunset over the Pridelands**

"Kion! There's one coming right towards you!"

The Egret yelled out to Kion, who was standing in the flowing waters of the Maji Safi river. The Lion Cub saw the tuna fish that Ono had spotted out swimming towards him and he immediately unsheathed his claws. With one swipe of his paw, Kion threw the fish across the river before it landed on the embankment.

"Well, that's one down… and 49 more to go," Kion sighed as he watched the fish flopped around on the ground and gasping for air before eventually lying motionless. He felt uncomfortable with what he saw, but he reasoned with himself that it was all part of the Circle of Life. But then again, Kion felt that catching 50 pieces of tuna and turning them into a gift seemed rather selfish.

"Ono, I'm starting to have second thoughts about all this," Kion called out to the Egret, who was still flying above him. "Do you really think I should go ahead and fish out 50 pieces of tuna just for Fuli?"

Ono swooped down towards Kion and perched himself on his back. He was somewhat relieved that Kion was starting to have doubts about following Mwongo's idea, but he didn't want to dishearten his friend either.

"Well err… 50 tuna fish does seem rather um… excessive, Kion, but err… I'm sure you will make the right decision, like you always do!" Ono replied, trying to sound encouraging to his friend.

Kion looked at Ono and then looked at the river where he could see several species of fish swimming freely in the water.

"Well, you might be right. 50 pieces of fish does seem a bit too much," he considered, as he observed several trout fish swim past his paws. "I guess we'll just catch twenty pieces of tuna first."

"Yeah, that sounds like a better idea," Ono happily agreed as he took off to the sky to continue spotting for tuna. "Kion, there's two tuna fish swimming your way now!"

Kion proceeded to pounce on the fish and toss them aside onto the embankment with the other fish while Ono continued to spot for any more tuna fish that were headed towards Kion. Little did they know, that a pair of eyes was silently and stealthily observing them at work from behind a nearby bush…

As the hours passed by, the sapphire afternoon sky slowly turned a bright amber as dusk was making its arrival. Kion swiped his paw and threw a tuna fish towards the embankment in the pile with the other 13 pieces of tuna that he had caught. He sighed in exhaustion as he eyed the fish before turning his attention towards the evening sky.

"Hevi Kebisa. I've spent the last three hours in this freezing river and we only managed to catch 14 pieces of fish?" Kion commented as he started shivering from being so long in the cold river.

"Well, it looks like we definitely won't be following Mwongo's plan and catch 50 pieces of tuna today," Ono replied while he was still up in the air. "Should we make do with only 14 fish?"

Kion shook his head. "No, let's try to make it 15. Ono, do you see any more tuna in the river?"

Ono used his ability as the keenest of sight to search the river. All he could see were several trout and some sturgeon fish, but he couldn't find any tuna headed towards Kion. "Negative! I don't see any more tuna fish in there. I think you've caught them all, Kion!"

Kion frowned. He was still persistent in reaching his target of catching 15 pieces of tuna.

"I don't think so, Ono. I think we just need to look at a different part of the river," Kion suggested as he made his way across the water and towards the embankment. "Come on, let's head upstream."

Ono sighed as he watched Kion dry himself before the Lion cub walking ahead. "Right behind you, Kion."

They both walked ahead upstream for fifteen minutes until Kion finally stopped at went to the river's edge. "Ok, I think this is far enough. Ono, do you see any tuna?"

Ono gained altitude and flew above the river. The water at that part of the river was flowing at a very rapid pace and Ono struggled to even see anything in the water. His sharp eyes finally caught sight of a single tuna fish hiding behind a large stone next to the river's edge.

"Kion, I see one! It's behind that huge rock just towards your left!"

Kion went over towards the stone and instantly spotted the tuna fish hiding behind it. Eventhough the fish was near the river's edge, it was still too far for Kion to catch it from where he stood on the embankment. The feline still had to wade in the water to reach the tuna fish.

"Be careful, Kion. The water currents is flowing too fast!" Ono warned from above as Kion began to submerge himself into the river.

"Don't worry, Ono! I think I can handle this!" Kion assured his friend with confidence. Slowly, Kion waded his way towards the unsuspecting tuna fish. Using his claws, Kion was able to swipe the tuna fish from the water and onto the river's edge behind.

"Okay, you got it, Kion! Now quickly swim back to the ground!"

"Haha! You don't have to tell me twice!" Kion chuckled as he began wading back towards the embankment. But just before his paws could reach the river's edge, Kion's left hind leg accidentally slipped on a slippery stone hidden in the water and the strong water currents instantly swept him off his paws.

"WHOAHH… UGH!"

Kion groaned in pain when the strong river currents caused him to slam hard against the massive stone that was right next to him.

"Hapana! Kion, are you okay?!" Ono cried out in panic when he saw his friend slam against the rock.

"Ugh… yeah I'm fine, Ono! Just a little bruise on my shoulder but I can still swim towards the embankment," Kion assured him as he continued wading towards dry land, much to the Egret's relief.

Ono landed on the grassy ground just as Kion pulled himself out of the river before drying himself up.

"Whew! I'm glad you were able to make it out of there, Kion. I was worried for you back there!"

"Sorry about that, Ono. But you don't have to worry, I've been through a lot worse than that," Kion chuckled to his friend assuringly. "Now, come on! Let's put this tuna together with the other fish."

"Affirmative!" Ono replied as he took off in the air while Kion clenched the tuna fish in his jaws as he walked ahead downstream.

Several minutes later, they arrived at the spot where they last left the other fish… and got a horrifying shock. There, they saw the pile of tuna fish were eaten and replaced with fish-bones, and a spotted Serval hungrily eating the last piece of tuna fish.

"MWONGO!" Kion shouted out of pure anger, startling the preoccupied Serval.

Mwongo gasped and dropped the tuna fish that he had been eating and instantly noticed a furious Kion and an equally enraged Ono staring angrily at him.

"Oh! Err… Kion! Didn't see you and your Egret friend coming… heheh. Thought I had some lunch while waiting for you two to um… to finish," Mwongo nervously replied and began to cower down when he saw Kion snarling at him and revealing his razor-sharp fangs.

"Mwongo! Argh… I should've known better than to trust you!" Kion snarled, as he unsheathed his claws and with every intention to pounce on the cowering Serval.

Mwongo flashed a nervous smile and tried to reason with the hostile Lion cub. "Look, kid. I… I… can explain! I was just…"

"Save it, Mwongo! We know you lied to us and used us to get you food for free!" Kion continued as Mwongo slowly backed away from him.

"Grrrargh!"

"Whoah, watch it kid!"

Kion had leapt towards the Serval but Mwongo anticipated this and was able to jump out of the way in time. Kion's breathing intensified as he narrowed his sights onto the runaway Serval. Dark clouds suddenly formed overhead that somehow began to resemble a pride of four Lions, as Kion prepared himself to use the Roar of the Elders on Mwongo.

But before he could even open his mouth to unleash the Roar, Ono unexpectedly appeared right in front of him and blocking his sights on Mwongo.

"Kion, don't use the Roar! You'll wipe out half the forest if you use the Roar while you're angry!" the Egret quickly warned him.

Kion realized his potential blunder and immediately backed down, as the dark clouds overhead suddenly dispersed the moment he did so. Kion let out an exasperated sigh as he watched the golden-yellow spotted Serval run through some underbrush before completely vanishing from Kion's sights.

"Kion! I can still track him from up here and you can-"

"Forget it, Ono. Let him go," Kion abruptly cut him off, much to the Egret's astonishment.

Ono landed on the ground and looked towards the underbrush where Mwongo had disappeared before looking back at Kion with confusion. "Um… I'm sorry, Kion, but I don't understand… why are we letting Mwongo go?"

"There's no point in catching him, Ono. Even if we do catch him, we can't make him do anything else. It's already too late in the evening and Upendi Day is coming to an end," Kion sighed as he looked up past the tree branches above and towards the evening sky that was slowly turning a bright hue of orange as the sun was slowly setting in the horizon.

"I'm really sorry, Kion," Ono quietly apologized while putting a comforting wing around his friend.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Ono. It was my fault. If I hadn't let my emotions cloud my better judgements, I wouldn't have trusted Mwongo in the first place," Kion sadly admitted while staring at the ground. He then spotted a yellow-coloured rose in a nearby bush and immediately went over to pluck it using his teeth.

"What do you plan to do?" Ono inquired when he saw Kion clenching the single yellow-coloured rose in his teeth,

"Well, I'm still going back to hopefully cheer Fuli up, so this rose will have to do as my gift for her," Kion replied, still clenching on to the rose.

"That's very sweet of you, Kion," Ono smiled, touched by Kion's effort to brighten up Fuli's day. "Do you want me to accompany you?"

"That's okay, Ono. If you don't mind, I err… prefer to meet up with Fuli alone."

"It's okay, Kion, I understand," Ono cheerfully assured him with a smile before taking off into the air. "I'll get back with the other at Big Springs. Good luck with your meeting with Fuli!"

 _Thanks, Ono. I have a feeling I'm gonna need it,_ Kion thought to himself as he watched the Egret gain altitude before taking off into the skies above.

With a sigh, Kion picked up the rose with his teeth and left the forest to head towards where he last saw his Cheetah friend. As he walked through the Serengeti, he could see the beauty of the day of Upendi all around him. Wherever he looked, he could see animals; zebras, gazelles, impalas and many others gathering together and showing their love and friendship together as they all enjoyed the view of the setting sun slowly sinking in the horizon.

Kion couldn't help but smile as he walked past the animals, feeling happy for them that they were able to enjoy the Upendi Day with each other. However, he felt that he couldn't really say the same for himself, as the day seemed to be going nowhere but downhill for him. Because of that, he was feeling rather optimistic with his meeting up with Fuli.

He walked for about ten minutes until he arrived a familiar path that would eventually lead to the very edge of the Pridelands. Kion continued ahead on the path, still clenching the rose in his mouth. As he walked on, he saw that he had an unobstructed view of the setting sun directly on his left. Suddenly, he could make out the outline of another animal heading his way just ahead of him. He squinted his eyes and saw that the animal had familiar golden-yellow fur coat that was broken by several circular black spots. Kion's jaw instantly dropped when he recognized who the animal was.

**To be continued…**


	7. A Day to Remember

**Chapter 7: A Day to Remember**

"There you are, Kion!" Fuli promptly called out to the Lion cub in the distance before making a dash towards him.

An automatic smile instantly graced Kion's lips as he observed Fuli running towards him. His breathing intensified as he watched the beautiful smile on her lips, the mesmerizing spotted patterns on her golden-yellow coat and her alluring, slender frame get closer to him by the second. Wait, why was he suddenly noticing all these little details about his Cheetah friend whom he had known for a very long time?

Fuli gave him her brightest smile when she finally got close enough to him. "Hi, Kion. Haha, what's gotten you so stunned?" she asked with a laugh while giving Kion a teasing look.

Kion let out a silent gasp and instantly straightened his face when Fuli said this. He certainly didn't want her to know how intently he'd been observing her while she ran toward him. Truth be told, he couldn't explain why he was unable to stop himself from staring at her earlier, considering she was his close friend whom he saw regularly. Was he really starting to fall for her?

"Oh, err… hey, Fuli! Sorry, I… I thought I saw something," Kion replied with a nervous grin and hoping she wouldn't noticed that he had started blushing.

But Fuli did noticed that his cheeks had indeed turned scarlet, so she gave him a playful nudge as a way to tease him which in turn, caused Kion to let out a nervous laugh and blushed a deeper shade of red. That was when Fuli noticed the yellow rose that he had brought and went over to pick it up.

"Wow, that's a pretty rose you got there," she commented as she held the flower in her paw.

Kion was both delighted and relieved when she said this. "Thanks. I know you like yellow roses, so I wanted to give you this one as a gift. Happy Upendi Day, Fuli."

This time, it was Fuli's turn to blush. She was truly touched by the simple flower that Kion gave her as a gift, partly because that no-one else has ever surprised her with a present before.

"Thanks, Kion! It's the most beautiful gift I could ever ask for," she replied with a sincere smile as she put the rose next to her left ear. She then slowly got closer to Kion before giving him a lick on his muzzle to show her appreciation. "Happy Upendi Day to you too."

Kion was slightly taken aback by her sudden display of affection, but he was able to maintain his composure and managed to smile at her back. "Glad you like it, Fuli."

A pregnant silence soon overcame the two as each feline waited for the other to say something.

"I have to tell you something."

"I have to tell you something."

Both Kion and Fuli looked surprised at first, but they finally managed to let out a laugh at how they both said the same thing at the same time.

"Okay, ladies first," Kion eventually said with a chuckle and earning a grin from Fuli.

"Alright, I'll start," Fuli began as she settled down next to Kion. "I actually wanted to apologise for making you leave after I told you about my past. I usually like being alone when I'm emotional or upset, but I couldn't help thinking that I was just being selfish for sending you off when all you wanted was just to cheer me up. And for that, I'm really sorry. Truth is, Kion, after we spent time together on Maua Hill, I kind of enjoy having you around for company."

Kion was at a loss for words when Fuli apologised to him. After all, the young Cheetah was widely known to be both snarky and uncompromising, so it came to him as a surprise that she was willing to admit her egotistic behaviour and was even more willing to apologize to him for that.

"That's okay, Fuli. I understand that sometimes you need your personal space and need to be by yourself, but I'm just glad that you still enjoy having me hang around with you," Kion softly replied as he gave Fuli a friendly nuzzle against her maw.

"Thanks for that, Kion," Fuli laughed as Kion settled down next to her. "You know, I couldn't help but noticed that you seemed… confused after I apologized to you."

Kion's lips curved upwards in a smirk when she said this. "To be honest with you, Fuli, I was actually expecting you to yell and vent at me for coming back and trying to cheer you up, but it's nice to hear you warming up to me for a change."

"Well, don't get used to it," Fuli replied before giving Kion a friendly nudge. "So, what was it that you're about to tell me?"

The smile on Kion's suddenly disappeared as he started having second thoughts on revealing to Fuli about his failed plan to give her a gift that was much more plentiful than just a simple yellow rose. "Actually, Fuli. I err… I didn't actually plan to only give you that flower as a gift. I actually planned something bigger but uh… it didn't go quite so well."

For the next five minutes, Kion explained to her everything that happened at the Maji Safi river. Fuli was deeply touched by Kion's effort to surprise he with a gift of fresh tuna, but she couldn't help feel sorry for him when he told her how Mwongo had betrayed him and ate all the tuna himself. By the time he finished telling her everything, Kion was so disheartened that Fuli almost attempted to comfort him with a hug.

"And that's how I ended up giving you only a simple rose as my Upendi Day gift for you," Kion concluded, trying to avoid meeting with Fuli's gaze. "I really wanted to give you something even more special to show how much I truly appreciate and love you as my friend… but I guess some things just aren't meant to be."

He then let out a gasped and was stoned to the ground when Fuli suddenly started nuzzling against his left shoulder in a comforting manner. "Kion, you don't have to bring me gifts of tuna or roses just to tell me that! There were many things you did in the past that tells how much I meant to you," she said in a rather sultry voice as her muzzle sank deeper into Kion's broad shoulder.

"Really? Things such as…?" Kion slowly asked while trying not to make it obvious at how excited he was when Fuli nuzzled against him.

"Well, remember that time when Mzingo and the other Vultures tried to ambush me while I was exhausted from running too much? Haha, I still remembered how angry you were when you roared those Vultures away and saving my life in the process! It doesn't take a genius to figure out why you were angrier than usual when you roared them away, Kion…" Fuli replied while aiming a teasing look at Kion and causing his cheeks to slowly turn scarlet once again. "… and let's not forget that bashful look on your face when you fell on top of me back at Maua Hill."

"Okay, okay, I get what you meant, Fuli!" Kion laughed good-humouredly at the mention of the awkward position he was in with Fuli at Maua Hill a few hours ago.

"Whatever it is, Kion, I'm just glad that today turned out to be great… for the both of us," Fuli purred in her sultry voice as she comfortably nestled herself against Kion's body and resting her head against the smooth fur of his left shoulder.

In response, Kion gently nuzzled against Fuli before affectionately licking a particular spot behind her right ear and causing the young Cheetah to purr slightly louder this time. "Me too, Fuli. Me too…" Kion softly replied as he took his time to enjoy the feeling of Fuli's body nestled against his.

"AWWWW… that's so sweet of you, Kion!"

Both Kion and Fuli instantly leapt with a gasp and turned around when they heard the deep and gruff voice talking to them from behind. For the second time that day, Kion's jaw dropped open when he saw who the voice belonged to.

"MWONGO!" Kion angrily called out to the Serval before violently pouncing on him.

"Ouch! Hey, watta you doing, kid?! Get off of me!" Mwongo protested when he found himself flat on his back and with Kion on top of him, growling fiercely as he sank his claws into the Serval's chest.

"You got some nerve showing your face around here after you tricked me, Mwongo," Kion snarled as he flashed his deadly fangs to intimidate the Serval.

Mwongo squirmed uncomfortably at the look of Kion's razor-sharp teeth. He secretly wished that he hadn't underestimated the young Lion cub when he first met him. "Okay, okay! Look, kid, I'll admit. I admit that I tricked you into catching all those tuna fish. But tricking other animals into getting me food is how I survive while I'm on foreign lands, alright?"

"So everything you told me about yourself was a lie too, I suppose?" Kion asked, giving Mwongo a very unimpressed look.

"Actually, no. I only lied about helping you make the perfect gift out of the tuna fish that you've caught. The rest of it were true, including the reason why I'm travelling across Africa," Mwongo replied, trying his best to remain calm while still on his back and being held onto by Kion. That was when he noticed a growling Fuli, who was right beside Kion. "Say, is that the girl you're dating, kid? I gotta say, you've got really good taste!"

Kion and Fuli both exchanged awkward glances when he said this, but Kion wasn't about to let Mwongo distract him from the main issue at hand. "Why'd you come back here, Mwongo?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Look, kid. I can explain to you everything you wanna know. But first, could you please get off of me?! I swear, I won't run away!"

"I trusted you earlier and you used that trust to trick me. How am I suppose to trust that you won't run away if I were to let go of my hold on you?"

Mwongo desperately looked around, racking his brain to think of an answer. "Err… ok, look. I don't know how to respond to that. But I'll tell you this; I don't usually go back to the animals I've deceived into giving me free food, knowing they'll probably want to claw my eyes out the moment they ever see me again."

Kion raised a brow at the Serval's answer. Whatever he said certainly made sense.

"He does have a point, Kion," Fuli said, who was obviously convinced by the Serval's answer. "Maybe we should trust him just this one time."

Kion looked from Fuli and then back at Mwongo before finally deciding to follow Fuli's advise.

"Alright, I'm giving you a second chance, Mwongo," Kion eventually said as he got off from the Serval. "Now, explain yourself."

"Whew, thanks for that, kid," Mwongo replied, getting on his paws and dusting himself off from the dirt on his fur. "As I was saying, yeah, I admit that I deceived you in getting those fish for me. But after I ran away from you and was out in the clearing, I noticed that all the animals around me seemed to be hugging and nuzzling each other, you know, all those lovey-dovey stuff. And that's when I remembered today was Upendi Day, so err… yeah, I kinda felt bad for tricking you earlier…"

"Well, you should be," Kion interrupted him with a frown.

"Anyways… I felt bad about it, so… I tracked you down to tell you that I've got a surprise waiting for you both over at Maua Hill that I'll know you'll enjoy!" Mwongo continued and putting a wide, toothy grin at the end.

Kion raised a brow in suspicion at the Serval's last sentence. "So what kind of surprise are you talking about here? A pack of hyenas waiting to ambush and pounce on us?"

Mwongo scoffed at Kion's sarcasm.

"Get over with it, kid! I'm trying to do something good here, so there's no need to be sarcastic," the Serval snapped angrily at Kion and for once, taking the Lion cub aback. "If you still don't trust me, then you don't have to go to Maua Hill and see what I've prepared for you two. Simple as that."

Kion frowned at Mwongo and was about to say something else when Fuli suddenly pulled him aside. "Kion, let's not get into an argument with him and just see what the surprise is," she whispered into his ear.

"No. I don't trust him, Fuli. I just think-"

"Kion, please. I don't want the day to go downhill again by getting into an argument with him. He seems rather persistent, so let's just go and see what his 'surprise' really is and then quickly come back here."

Kion looked at Fuli and then towards the Serval. "Alright, Mwongo. We'll follow you to Maua Hill, but don't ever think that we'll let our guard down while we're on the way there," he finally said while giving Mwongo a stern look.

"Wouldn't expect you to," the Serval replied and looking somewhat relieved. "Now let's go."

And with that, the trio made their way back to Maua Hill with Mwongo leading the way while Kion and Fuli walked behind him. As they walked on, the amber evening sky slowly turned a hue of purple as the Sun slowly sank deeper into the horizon.

Eventually, they arrived at the familiar flowery meadow that surrounded the foot of Maua Hill. "Alright, you two! Your surprise is just up at the peak. So follow me, and prepared to be dazzled!" Mwongo announced with a grin as he led the way to the top. Kion and Fuli exchanged glances, wondering what the Serval had in store for them but followed behind him anyways.

When they did reach the peak, both their eyes widened as they were completely surprised by what they saw in front of them.

"Did anyone order a special evening dinner of fish for two with a perfect view of the sunset at the top of Maua Hill?" Mwongo asked in cheery tone and with a wide grin as he presented to Kion and Fuli an array of different types of fish beautifully arranged in the shape of a heart that was placed on the grass of the Hill. And from where they were on top of the hill, they had a perfectly clear view of the setting sun over the Pridelands, laid out right in front of them.

"Wow! I did not see that coming," Fuli exclaimed with a grin, impressed by the set-up that the Serval had prepared for them.

"Mwongo, did you do all this?" Kion inquired as he turned to face the Serval.

"Sure did, kid! It took me a while to hunt for all these fish, but it was the least I could do after I kinda ruined your Upendi Day today," Mwongo replied, smirking as he did so.

"Gee, I… I can't tell you how much we really appreciate your efforts, Mwongo. Thank you," Kion said to him, finally able to smile at the Serval.

"Ah, don't mention it, kid! Like I said, it's the least I could do!" He paused to look at the setting sun before turning back to face the two cubs again. "I'm afraid I have to go and continue on with my travels now, kids. It's getting kinda late for me."

"Wait! You can always stay here in the Pridelands for the night," Fuli offered just as the Serval turned to leave.

"Well that's awfully kind of you, kid, but I think I've been hanging around the Pridelands for too long. Don't get me wrong, this place is great and all, but I'm still planning to travel the entire of Africa until I find my childhood sweetheart, Bahati."

"Well, in that case, Mwongo, I wish you all the best in your travels," Kion cheerfully wished him as he patted the Serval on his back. "If you ever come back to the Pridelands, you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you like. Just… try not to trick other animals into giving you free food next time."

"Oh, don't worry about that, kid. You'll probably never see me again," Mwongo winked at Kion and Fuli before heading downhill and away from the cubs. "Enjoy your dinner, you two!"

Kion and Fuli watched as the Serval walked away until he eventually vanished from their sights. They then turned around and settled down on the grass next to the array of fish as they observe the setting sun in front of them.

"Kion, before Upendi Day ends, I just want to thank you for all that you've done for me today," Fuli softly said, as she faced Kion with half-lidded eyes. "And… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really appreciate and love having you as my close friend."

Kion grinned at her before giving her a brief lick on her nose. "Thank you, Fuli. I've never really expected you to ever say that to me, but… I'm glad you did," he teased her and earning a friendly nudge from the young Cheetah. "Happy Upendi day, Fuli."

They happily nuzzled against each other one last time as they watched the sun finally sinking below the horizon, marking the end of the year's Upendi Day Celebration.

**The End**

**A/n: Hope you all enjoyed the story! I may add an epilogue if there are any request for such. Thanks again to everyone who's read my story so far :D**


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